Post by brynmawr on Jul 27, 2018 17:32:07 GMT
I am joining this group to help perpetuate and promote traditional Dexters. There are a lot of conversations posted concerning what is it that we should preserve, so I thought I'd share some of our goals and standards for raising Dexter cattle. We have set our standards to the best of our ability and knowledge in accordance to Biblical principals where applicable, otherwise we have left it to our own discernment.
Hardiness: focusing on cattle that can stay in good condition and health with out the focus being on modern pharmaceuticals to be the lifeblood of their existence. The original Irish cattle didn't have modern science to bring them into this world, nor keep them alive. Its my focus to select the strongest animals that naturally perpetuate themselves.
Cattle after their Kind
Gen 1:24-25 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Lev19:19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed
Natural breeding: We will not be involved in AI because we cant participate in such activity with a clean conscience due to reading verses such as Lev 18:23 "Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Everyone can draw there own conclusions, but after researching what it takes to collect semen from a bull and the procedure of impregnating a cow, I won't be involved. A simple net search will easily glean a lot of information on this subject.
Further from a standpoint of preserving vigor and hardiness in all animals, AI would decrease these traits. In nature the strongest semen survives out of all couplings made with a cow and a bull. With AI only the selected semen that has been frozen, bottled and shipped to you is used. Read up on what Joel Salatin has to say on the subject. We all know what happens to things when they thaw. AI also has been an unfortunate tool, to slip in possibly out crossed animals in an amazingly short period of time.
BREED STANDARDS
I recognize that breeds are purely a man made definition to separate stock from other related animals. Hence the obvious
Kerry/Dexter split, likewise there are other cattle that were originally out of the same stock, but man has selected them out for certain desirable traits. I respect that there are breed standards to help people focus and not loose sight of traits that make a breed unique, but if an animal marginally falls outside of these standards(such as height or weight) it does not somehow make them less pure. I plan to adhere to the breed standards of traditional Dexters to the best of my stocks ability, but never in opposition to my primary standards ,some are listed above.
I have a very open mind to learning from everyone here as I know many of you have valuable information and experience to offer. I desire to work together with you, therefor I thought it would be good to be up front about certain standards I hold while introducing myself to this group. I'd like to see more activity on this forum, perhaps this will give us something to discuss. Hopefully we can do it in good spirits.
Danielle
Hardiness: focusing on cattle that can stay in good condition and health with out the focus being on modern pharmaceuticals to be the lifeblood of their existence. The original Irish cattle didn't have modern science to bring them into this world, nor keep them alive. Its my focus to select the strongest animals that naturally perpetuate themselves.
Cattle after their Kind
Gen 1:24-25 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.
Lev19:19 Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy cattle gender with a diverse kind: thou shalt not sow thy field with mingled seed
Natural breeding: We will not be involved in AI because we cant participate in such activity with a clean conscience due to reading verses such as Lev 18:23 "Neither shalt thou lie with any beast to defile thyself therewith: neither shall any woman stand before a beast to lie down thereto: it is confusion. Everyone can draw there own conclusions, but after researching what it takes to collect semen from a bull and the procedure of impregnating a cow, I won't be involved. A simple net search will easily glean a lot of information on this subject.
Further from a standpoint of preserving vigor and hardiness in all animals, AI would decrease these traits. In nature the strongest semen survives out of all couplings made with a cow and a bull. With AI only the selected semen that has been frozen, bottled and shipped to you is used. Read up on what Joel Salatin has to say on the subject. We all know what happens to things when they thaw. AI also has been an unfortunate tool, to slip in possibly out crossed animals in an amazingly short period of time.
BREED STANDARDS
I recognize that breeds are purely a man made definition to separate stock from other related animals. Hence the obvious
Kerry/Dexter split, likewise there are other cattle that were originally out of the same stock, but man has selected them out for certain desirable traits. I respect that there are breed standards to help people focus and not loose sight of traits that make a breed unique, but if an animal marginally falls outside of these standards(such as height or weight) it does not somehow make them less pure. I plan to adhere to the breed standards of traditional Dexters to the best of my stocks ability, but never in opposition to my primary standards ,some are listed above.
I have a very open mind to learning from everyone here as I know many of you have valuable information and experience to offer. I desire to work together with you, therefor I thought it would be good to be up front about certain standards I hold while introducing myself to this group. I'd like to see more activity on this forum, perhaps this will give us something to discuss. Hopefully we can do it in good spirits.
Danielle